Nearly every news story you read online is accompanied with an image, sometimes an entire gallery. All those pictures have to be taken by photographers, and anyone working today owes a great debt to the defining artists of the past. This list is dedicated to those trailblazers whose work in the field of photography left an indelible mark on the art form.

There are certain images that have penetrated our culture in such a way that they've come to represent entire eras as a part of our shared history. These beautifully constructed photography books capture nature, the solar system, and American life in ways that will leave you speechless.